Volunteers Wanted

The Forage Fish team is looking for local volunteers to support sites in Campbell River, Quadra Island, and the Comox Valley area, as well as for blitz events in December. Typically, November and December sampling occurs about every two weeks with New Moons and Full Moons. For more details regarding blitz events, as well as lab opportunities, please contact Virginia. Volunteer opportunities include a variety of aspects of the sampling process at a variety of locations across the northern Salish Sea:

• Regular sampling
• Blitz sampling
• Sieving and Vortexing
• Microscope Egg Hunting

We hope that you can find an aspect and location that works for you!

In addition to volunteers, we are looking for stories. Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) is an important element of Project Watershed’s BCSRIF Forage Fish Project. LEK includes stories like “going down to the beach and collecting “Grunions” (surf smelt) by the wheel burrow full in the fall”, noticing changes in the sand on a beach you walk on regularly or catching “needle fish” (Pacific sand lance) when you wanted to catch a large fish. Are you a birder who notices that at certain times of the year there are more birds on a particular beach? Do you know locations where you used to go and see Pacific sand lance or surf smelt? You can help us out by emailing your stories to Virginia or filling out the questionnaire.